Sunday, June 7, 2009

ABBA and Feminism: Together At Last.

Oh my god, I think my head is going to explode from awesomeness. Two of my favourite things - ABBA and feminism - have come together at last.

In Sweden there is actually a feminist political party called Feminist Initiative (FI!). The party includes men and women and puts forth a pretty rad feminist platform.

Apparently in the past there have been many polling stations in Sweden where the FI! party was not an available choice. So Benny Andersson - pianist, composer and spandex-clad member of ABBA - contributed $1 million kronor ($143,518 Canadian) to ensure that Swedish voters have a chance to vote for the Feminist Initiatve party in today's European Union parliamentary elections.

To Benny Andersson, having the option to vote for all available political parties is an important democratic matter. Andersson released a statement saying, “Because I sympathize with [the FI!'s] persistent struggle for equal treatment, I offered to try and help by providing financial support for an advertisement that explains what to do when the pre-printed ballots are missing.”